Variable driving mechanism.



No.781,304. IPATE'NTIED N. 31,1905.

0L0. &'B. A; RIOTTE; VARIABLE DRIVING MECHANISM.

APIfLIOATION FILED MAR; 29, 1901.

g1] a um INVENTORSQ" M WITNESSES:

UNITED STATES Patented January 31, 1 905.

PATENT OFFICE.

CARL c. RIOTTE AND EUGENE-A. RIOTTE, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

VARIABLE DRIVING MECHANISM.

SIEGIFIGATION forming part of'Letters Patent No. 781,304, dated January 31, 1905L Application filedMareh 29,1901. semi No. 53,415.

To all whom it may concern; I 4

- Be it known that we, CARL O. RIOTTE and EUGENE A. RIOTTE, citizens of the United States, residing in the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of New York, have jointly invented certain new and useful 1m.- provements in-Variable Driving Mechanisms,

. of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to drivingmechanisms, and especiallyto thevclass in which variable speeds or a reverse motion, or either, are obtained from a driving part. 1

In our application filed December 7, 1899,

- Serial No. 739,526, wehave shown a variablespeed and reverse driving mechanism in which a planet-gear meshing with ,the shaft-plnlon and with an outer rack is carried on an axis rcvoluble around the axis of the driving-shaft and also revoluble relatively to an adjacent rack meshing with the reversing-gear. such construction the reversing and the slowdriving racks are relatively stationary, so that the slow forward motion of the driven part is due to the differential character of the gearing, and all transmission from the drivingto the driven part is conveyed through the teeth of the gears, and a considerable travel of the gears takes place during either reverse or slow forward driving.

Our present invention relates to an invention which aims in its preferred form to-sim plify, strengthen, andimprove the parts, to

relieve the gear-teeth from strain,- and to diof, cut the left-hand side on the plane of the line 3 3 in Fig. 1 and the right-hand side in the plane of the line 3 3* in Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of .thearrow. Fig. 4 is a. plan View of the gear and rack carrier removed; and Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic end view to the shaft.-

elongated hub 6, over which the pinionFfits.

of the mechanism, showing the separably-connected auxiliary driver. I e

, Referring to the drawings, let A indicate one part, 'B'another part, G the intermediate gearing between these parts, D means for locking the parts together, and E the separable auxiliary driver, may be any usual or suitable members, one of which is to be driven from the other at variable speeds or in reverse direction. As shown, the part A is av shaft, and the part B is a sprocket-Wheel. Either of these parts may be the driving part and the other the driven 'part; but for convenience in describing our improvementswe will assume that the partA is a driving part and the part B the driven' part, and for clearness these parts will hereinafter be so designated. a

We will now describe in detail the embodiment of our invention shown in the drawings.

The driving part A is shown as provided with a flange or head a, by which it may be coupled to an engine-shaft or other source of power. To theshaft A is keyed a pinion F, v which may for convenience be called a primary i or forward-driving pinion, and ad- The parts A and B:

jacent thereto, but spaced apart therefrom, is

'anotherpinion, G, which may be called the secondary or reverse pinion, also keyed As shown, the plnlon G has an and towhich the latter is keyedby a key a,

shaft throughout their length bya key (Z; but either or both the pinions may be formed upon or connected to the shaft in any desired man- Surrounding the pinion F is an internal rack H, which may be called the primary or forward-driving 'rack, and surrounding the pinlonG IS an internal rack I, which may be called the reverse-rack. Meshing with the pinion F and the rack H is one or 'more plan etary gears (Land meshing with the pinion G and the rack I is one or more planetary gears K, four being shown in each instance. The rack H is mounted to rotate around the pinion F and is shown as carried within a drum L, revoIubly supported by the shaft A. The rack I is mounted to revolve around the pinion G ,and is movable relatively to the rack H. The

the pinion G and its sleeve being keyed to the t driving a chain a.

gears J are carried on axes mounted to rotate around the shaft A, but fixed in their relation to the driven part B. The gears K are mounted to rotate around the pinion G and are car ried on axes movable relatively to the driven part B. A carrier member M, revolubly mounted on the shaft A, carries the gears J and connects them with the driven part B. A carrier N, revolubly mounted on the shaft A at the outer side of the pinion G, carries the gears K. One member of a clutch or other means for locking the shaft and sprocketwheel together, as the friction-d rum O, is rigidly connected to the carrier M, and another member of such means, as the expanding disk P, is rigidly connected to the shaft A. As shown, the driven part B is a separate sprocket fitting over a sleeve 0 on the carrier M and fixed thereto by a key f, and the drum 0 has its hub fitting over the hub g of the sprocket Band keyed thereto by a key it, and the sleeve '5 of the disk Pfits over the shaft and is keyed thereto by a key 1'. The disk P is expanded by the usual levers 7c, the ends of which are separated by the usual spreader Z as the latteris slid inwardly along the hub i by the usual fork m, engaging the groove n. The carrier N has a hub 19, to which is fixed a brake-disk q for receiving the usual brake-strap or other means Q for holding the carrier stationary. The drum H is engaged by the usual brakestrap or other means Rfor holding it stationary. The hub r of the drum bears on the sleeve 0 of the carrier M, between the sprocket B and the body 8 of the carrier. The open end of the drum is closed by a head S, which has a hub t bearing on the hub p of the carrier N between the disk q and the body a of the carrier.

The auxiliary driver E is mounted to be movable around the shaft A and consists of a sprocket-wheelT, surrounding a hub U, keyed to the shaft by the key j, the wheel and hub being held in alinement axially by plates or other provisions o, embracing the sides of the wheel and overlapping the sides of the hub. The sprocket T is driven by a chain to from a hand-operated wheel 00 of relatively small diameter, which is shown as operated by a crank y. The sprocket-wheel B is shown as Preferably the clutch or other means D for locking the driving and driven parts together have their respective members connected directly to these parts, so that the gears are relieved of all work during direct driving at full speed ahead. Preferably, also, the auxiliary driver E is connected to the shaft A by a friction-clutch operating to lock the auxiliary driver and shaft together when the speed of movement of the auxiliary driver in a forward direction exceeds that of the shaft and to disengage these parts as soon as the speed of the shaft in said direction exceeds that of the auxiliary driver. This is shown as accomplished by constructing the sprocket T with a cylindrical internal frictionwall a and the hub U with roller-sockets having tangential bottom walls 7/ and interposing rollers 0 between the opposite faces of the sprocket T and the hub U within these sockets, so that relative movement of those parts in which the sprocket tends to proceed faster than the shaft will cause the rollers to move forward until they bind in the sockets and compel the shaft to movewith the sprocket, and movement of the shaft forward rclativel y to the sprocket will cause the rollers to move to the large end of the socket and release the sprocket from the shaft, in well-known manner. Preferably, also, the sprocket B is interposed between the means for locking the shaft to the driven part and the drum for the variable-speed gearing.

According to our improvement the carrier M supports the axial shafts c of the gears J at both sides of the latter and has an annular wall or extensionf covering the gearsJ opposite its body .9, and intermediate supports extending from the body s to the wall f, these parts being preferably formed in an integral casting with the rest of the carrier, so that the spaces lb between the body 8, wall f, and the braces g constitute pockets for the gears J,

which latter are thus surrounded by the carrier. The body 8 and wallf are drilled at '11 to receive the gear-shafts 6. These shafts are thus effectively supported and great strength is attained, while torsional strain on the gear-shafts is eliminated, and correspondinglyreduced shafts can be employed in order to permit the making of a very compact gear. The extension f of the gear M has a central aperture j of suificient size to permit passage of this part of the carrier over the pinion F, and the diameter of the body .5- of the carrier is sufiiciently small to permit the passage of the body through the rack H. The inner face la, Fig. 1, of the extension f is finished and overlaps the adjacent face of the rack H, thus serving to keep the latter and the gears J in alinement in one direction, and the opposite face Z of the extensionf is finished and abuts against the adjacent face of the gears K, thus restraining these against axial displacement. As shown, the gears K are loosely carried on studs on, riveted at one end to the carrier N and flush with the gears at the other end, where the only provision for preventing displacement of the gears axially of the studs is the adjacent wall of the extension f of the carrier M.

Preferably the rack I is revolublc relatively to the rack H and is directly connected to the driven part Without any intervening gearing, so that differential reverse driving is unnecessary and the gear travel is reduced to the minimum during reverse operation. Preferably the rack I is directly connected to the gear-carrier M. As shown, this is accomplished by constructing the carrier M with an axially-extending flange n, surrounding the outer edge of its wall f. The flange n is preferably formed integrally with the rest of the carrier M and is finished on its inner face to receive the rack I, which latter fits into the socket 19 within the open end of the carrier and is fastened therein in" any suitable manner, as by a screw g. In this way there is obtained a fixed relation between-the reversing-rack I and the axes of the forward slowspeed gears J and the driven part B, while the single skeleton casting, the carrier M, inclosed within the gear-drum L, serves to carry these various parts.

The proportions of the pinions F, gears J, and carrier H for a single variable-speed device or of the pinion G, gears K, and rack I for a mere reversing device, or of all these parts for a combined'variable-speed and 1'61 versing mechanism, Wlll be varled accordlngto speed requirements or circumstances. The proportions shown are twenty-four teeth for the pinion F, twelve teeth for each of the gears J, and forty-eight teeth for the rack H of the variable-speed mechanism and sixteen teeth for the pinion Gr, sixteen teeth for the gears K, and forty-eight teeth for the rack I of the reversing-gear.

In operation, the shaft Abeing driven in the direction shown by the arrow thereon in Fig. 1, the rollers 0 will revolve idly in the large ends of their sockets in the hub U and the auxiliary driver E will be stationary. If the shaft A is at rest and it is necessary to turn it over by hand to start the motor, as would be the case were the driving power a gasolene-engine, the gearw will be operated by the crank 3 thus driving the sprocket T forward until the rollers 0 bind between the faces a ofthe sprocket and b of the hub U, whereupon the further movement of the sprocket T will be transmitted to the shaft A. As soon as the speed of revolution of the shaft exceeds that of the sprocketT the rollers 0 will release and the auxiliary driver will be thrust out of action. When the shaft A is driven and the clutching means D is out of action and the brakes Rand Q are released, the shaft will run idly, the resistance of the chain 2, engaging the driven sprocket B, being sufiicient to hold the carrier M stationary. The result will be that the pinion F will drive the rack H and drum L idly and slowly backward through the revolution of the gears J on their axes. At the same time the pinion G will drive the carrier N idly and slowly forward through the running-gears K on the rack I. .To communicate full speed ahead to the driven part, the clutchfork m will be operated to throw the expander Zbetween the tails of the levers in, which latter as they separate will spread thedisk P within the cap 0, which will lock the shaft A and driven. part B frictionally and rigidly together. For a reduced forward motion the means for locking the shaft and driven part together will be released and the means for locking the rack H against movement, the strap R in the construction shown, will be applied. As soon as the rack H becomes stationary the carrier M will be driven forward at 'a reduced speed by the forward travel of the gears J on the rack H. This motion will also carry the reversing-gear I forward at a G will be transmitted in reverse direction and at diminished speed to the rack I, which being fixed to the carrier M will drive the latter and the driven part B backward. During this movement the rack Hand drum L will be idly driven backward at an accelerated speed.

It will be seen that our invention provides improvements which can be readily and advantageously availed of, and it will be understood that we do not limit ourselves to the particular details of construction, arrangement, or combination of parts shown as constituting the preferred form ofour invention,

since our improvements can be availed of in whole or in part, according to such modifications as circumstances or the judgment of those skilled in the art may dictate, without departing from the spirit of our invention.

' What we claim is For drivinggear, a shaft, agear-carrier having a hub for revolubly engaging said shaft, a body 8, a wall spaced apart therefrom, and braces connecting said wall and body at separate points, the parts being arranged with a space between said wall, body and braces, for receiving a gear to be held in juxtaposition to said shaft, all formed in one integral piece. Inwitness whereof we have hereunto signed our names in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CARL O. RIOTTE. EUGENE A. RIOTTE. -Witnesses:

FRED WHITE, THoMAs F. VVALLAoE. 

